Populist Party of Athens

The Populist Party was a populist political faction in Athens which was active from 431 BC to 422 BC. It was founded by the statesman and demagogue Cleon, who was a representative of the commercial class. Cleon was popular among the lower classes due to his support for a more aggressive approach to the war against Sparta during the Peloponnesian War, and he promised to "Make Athens Great Again". The Populists were rivals with Pericles' Alcmaionid family and the Aristocratic Party of Athens, and they met their demise when Cleon was killed at the Battle of Amphipolis in 422 BC.